Perishable foods, i.e. meats and poultry, are commonly sold in packaged form with an absorbent pad within the packaging to absorb any standing fluids. The absorbent pads are commonly placed on a rigid or semi-rigid support layer such as, for example, a foam tray. The meat or other product is then placed upon the absorbent pad and the entire package is wrapped in a protective wrap. Typically the package is wrapped with a transparent plastic wrap in order to allow the ultimate consumer to view the product while it is contained in the disposable, sanitary package. In this regard the absorbent pad soaks up blood or other fluids that may escape from the meat or other packaged product. Food packages of this type are generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,811 to Miller. Absorbing free or standing fluids serves several important functions such as, for example, keeping the packaged product in an aesthetically pleasing condition, reducing the risk of fluids escaping from the package, extending the shelf-life of the product and reducing the mess and clean-up on the part of the consumer once the package is opened and its contents removed.
Maintaining the fluids in a sanitary and manageable state is particularly important since leakage of such fluids not only creates unwanted mess but can cause potentially serious health concerns. In this regard bacterial growth is more readily supported by free standing fluids exuded from meat and poultry than by the products themselves. Rapid growth of bacteria resulting from standing fluids can considerably shorten the shelf-life of the packaged product by contaminating the packaged product by reverse migration of the fluids or by simply creating unpleasant odors. Moreover, contamination from bacteria or other organisms which may exist within such fluids can create significant health hazards, most notably with salmonella from poultry products. These potential health hazards have caused many grocers to completely stop butchering poultry products on-site. Grocers now commonly have such products prepared and packaged at a remote site such that the grocer receives the meat in a sanitary package. Of course it naturally follows that the benefits of off-site packaging is considerably reduced or eliminated if fluids from within the packaged products frequently escape therefrom. Therefore, significant importance is placed on the absorbent pad's ability to both absorb and retain such fluids.
The initial absorbency as well as the extended retention of the fluids is important not only to grocers but to the ultimate consumer as well. Although bacteria, such as salmonella, are readily destroyed with proper cooking, if the fluids escape or are not properly contained they can contaminate other surfaces which allows the bacteria to be passed on to other foods or materials. Thus, an absorbent pad which maintains the fluid as well as its integrity provides a significant advantage to the ultimate consumer. However, existing meat and poultry pads commonly employ a mat of wood fluff or multiple plies of creped tissue, absorbents which readily lose their integrity upon absorbing fluids. Thus, such absorbent pads often require additional layers of material to enclose the absorbent. Moreover, existing pads also fail to continue absorbing fluid after first wetting out. A food pad that not only retains liquid from an initial insult but can continue, thereafter, to absorb fluid is highly desirable.
In addition, in order to ensure that the meat pad is capable of absorbing the blood and/or other fluids, excess absorbent capacity is typically employed. However, since the amount of fluid that may leak from the product varies considerably, the desired minimum absorbent capacity of the absorbent pads are often considerable. For example, meat pads are commonly expected to absorb in excess of 100 g of fluid. In an attempt to meet these absorbency requirements existing meat pads are bulky and often employ a thick mat of wadding or numerous sheets of creped tissue in a single pad. Moreover, to meet the high-end absorbent capacities, often pads will be placed over one another which has the disadvantage of increasing the labor needed for packaging as well as further increasing the bulk of the package. An absorbent pad which is capable of meeting the desired absorbency needs yet which overcomes such deficiencies is highly desirable.
In addition, it is common for grocers to offer "value" or "family" packs which contain larger portions of meat, commonly including in excess of 3 lbs. of meat. Thus, the absorbent pads need to be able to adequately absorb fluids while under load. Furthermore, even when the contents of the package are not as large, the desired absorbent capacity still should function adequately under increased loads since packages are commonly stacked in shipping and/or storage. In this regard meat pads employing wood fluff or multiple sheets of creped tissue lose their integrity and shape once wet and, further, the absorbency of the pad decreases considerably when under loads commonly experienced by such pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,997 to Miller recognizes the deficiencies of such pads and discloses an absorbent pad for food products which employs a spacer layer, such as a net-like thermoplastic foam, which is intended to maintain the separation between the bottom layer of the pad and the absorbent material. Miller teaches that the spacer layer desirably minimizes the compression of the absorbent material and the corresponding reduction in the ability of the mat to absorb liquids. Canadian Patent No. 1329573 to Rhodes also recognizes the problem absorbent pads experience absorbing and maintaining fluid under load. However, Rhodes seeks to solve this problem by employing an absorbent layer comprising a combination of cellulosic, thermoplastic and superabsorbent materials. Due to the combination of these various materials, Rhodes suggests that the material has better absorbent capacity under load. However, the absorbent pads described above require relatively expensive materials and/or designs which do not adequately solve the absorbency problems.
Therefore, there exists a continued need for an improved absorbent pad which is both efficient and economical for use in disposable food packaging. There further exists a need for an absorbent pad which is capable of retaining a high percentage of its absorbent capacity while under loads experienced by food grade absorbent pads. There likewise exists a need for an absorbent pad which has reduced bulk yet which retains the desired level of absorbent capacity. In addition, there further exists a need for an absorbent pad having the desired absorbent capacity which is capable of maintaining fluids and also retaining its integrity over extended periods of time.